Amherst power outage lasts longer than expected

The power outage, which was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and end at 4 p.m., began at 11:30 a.m. and was not fully restored until 9:30 p.m., officials said.

“It’s a situation where our original estimate was off due to other complications that arose,” said Mark Durbin, spokesperson for FirstEnergy. “Basically, we have a transmission that runs 64,000 volts to service Amherst. The Amherst’s insulator, which flows the electricity, was damaged which prompted the repair.”

Durbin said the power was turned off for employee safety while the insulator was being repaired.

“We had to coordinate with the city departments and it took time to get the insulator repaired,” he said. “Unfortunately, more problems to the electrical lines were revealed during the process and needed to be repaired.”

Durbin said the repairs were needed due to the last week’s storm.

“Amherst was experiencing flickering and problems that needed to be addressed,” he said. “We met with the city to map out a day and time to repair the insulator. It was something we wanted to repair sooner rather than later.

“We give estimates to our customers based on our best guess, but sometimes it will go over that time frame. We want to apologize to the people of Amherst for the extended outage, but it was something that needed to be done to provide an even better service for them.”

Ronald Merthe, the superintendent of utilities for Amherst, said about 6,000 customers were affected.

“The power went out earlier than expected and lasted longer than expected, but all the repairs were made,” Merthe said. “Fortunately, the word was spread effectively and we appreciate the patience of our citizens.”

Amherst police Lt. Dan Makruski is thanking everyone for the job they did during the outrage.

“We had great help from Amherst fire and also received support from the Lorain police as well,” Makruski said. “We also had three dispatchers fielding a myriad of phone calls regarding the outage.

“The team of responders did an outstanding job, and I can’t thank everyone enough.”